Acquiring “Knowledge of Our Own Continent”: Geopolitics, Science, and Jeffersonian Geography, 1783–1803
In his role as a promoter of scientific exploration of North America, Thomas Jefferson shared with Jedidiah Morse, considered by many to be the father of American geography, the patriotic desire to counteract misinformation furnished by “imperfect and erroneous sketches” describing the continent...
Published in: | Journal of American Studies |
---|---|
Main Author: | |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
2006
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0021875806001356 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0021875806001356 |
id |
crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0021875806001356 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0021875806001356 2024-03-03T08:49:26+00:00 Acquiring “Knowledge of Our Own Continent”: Geopolitics, Science, and Jeffersonian Geography, 1783–1803 ALLEN, DEBORAH 2006 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0021875806001356 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0021875806001356 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms Journal of American Studies volume 40, issue 2, page 205-232 ISSN 0021-8758 1469-5154 General Social Sciences General Arts and Humanities journal-article 2006 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s0021875806001356 2024-02-08T08:42:45Z In his role as a promoter of scientific exploration of North America, Thomas Jefferson shared with Jedidiah Morse, considered by many to be the father of American geography, the patriotic desire to counteract misinformation furnished by “imperfect and erroneous sketches” describing the continent's geography by European writers. Yet his interest in the science of geography was also motivated by a concern with America's self-image in the realm of international politics, learning, and commerce. In the summer of 1802 Jefferson was prompted to send an exploring party to North America's westernmost territories in response to reading Voyages from Montreal , Alexander Mackenzie's account of his voyages across the continent to its northwest coast. At the end of his narrative, the Scottish explorer had encouraged Britain's control of a region that, if certain natural obstacles were overcome, might supply fur and fish to “the markets of the four quarters of the globe,” and proposed a line of fortified posts to be established to maintain the British Empire's presence from Lake Winnipeg to the Pacific. Jefferson understood that such action would obstruct America's westward expansion, block Russian advances from Alaska, and thus make possible a British dominion linking two great oceans. Edward Thornton, the British minister to the United States, would later observe that Mackenzie's discoveries had provoked the American President, who in 1803 was also the president of the American Philosophical Society, to concretize his dream “to set on foot an expedition entirely of a scientific nature for exploring the Western continent of America,” and that he was, furthermore, “ambitious in his character of a man of letters and science, of distinguishing his Presidency by a discovery” of a route to the Pacific Ocean by way of the Missouri, “now the only one left to his enterprise, the Northern Communication having been so ably explored and ascertained by Sir Alexander Mackenzie's journeys. Article in Journal/Newspaper Alaska morse Cambridge University Press Pacific Morse ENVELOPE(130.167,130.167,-66.250,-66.250) Thornton ENVELOPE(-57.467,-57.467,-63.267,-63.267) Journal of American Studies 40 2 205 232 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Cambridge University Press |
op_collection_id |
crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
topic |
General Social Sciences General Arts and Humanities |
spellingShingle |
General Social Sciences General Arts and Humanities ALLEN, DEBORAH Acquiring “Knowledge of Our Own Continent”: Geopolitics, Science, and Jeffersonian Geography, 1783–1803 |
topic_facet |
General Social Sciences General Arts and Humanities |
description |
In his role as a promoter of scientific exploration of North America, Thomas Jefferson shared with Jedidiah Morse, considered by many to be the father of American geography, the patriotic desire to counteract misinformation furnished by “imperfect and erroneous sketches” describing the continent's geography by European writers. Yet his interest in the science of geography was also motivated by a concern with America's self-image in the realm of international politics, learning, and commerce. In the summer of 1802 Jefferson was prompted to send an exploring party to North America's westernmost territories in response to reading Voyages from Montreal , Alexander Mackenzie's account of his voyages across the continent to its northwest coast. At the end of his narrative, the Scottish explorer had encouraged Britain's control of a region that, if certain natural obstacles were overcome, might supply fur and fish to “the markets of the four quarters of the globe,” and proposed a line of fortified posts to be established to maintain the British Empire's presence from Lake Winnipeg to the Pacific. Jefferson understood that such action would obstruct America's westward expansion, block Russian advances from Alaska, and thus make possible a British dominion linking two great oceans. Edward Thornton, the British minister to the United States, would later observe that Mackenzie's discoveries had provoked the American President, who in 1803 was also the president of the American Philosophical Society, to concretize his dream “to set on foot an expedition entirely of a scientific nature for exploring the Western continent of America,” and that he was, furthermore, “ambitious in his character of a man of letters and science, of distinguishing his Presidency by a discovery” of a route to the Pacific Ocean by way of the Missouri, “now the only one left to his enterprise, the Northern Communication having been so ably explored and ascertained by Sir Alexander Mackenzie's journeys. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
ALLEN, DEBORAH |
author_facet |
ALLEN, DEBORAH |
author_sort |
ALLEN, DEBORAH |
title |
Acquiring “Knowledge of Our Own Continent”: Geopolitics, Science, and Jeffersonian Geography, 1783–1803 |
title_short |
Acquiring “Knowledge of Our Own Continent”: Geopolitics, Science, and Jeffersonian Geography, 1783–1803 |
title_full |
Acquiring “Knowledge of Our Own Continent”: Geopolitics, Science, and Jeffersonian Geography, 1783–1803 |
title_fullStr |
Acquiring “Knowledge of Our Own Continent”: Geopolitics, Science, and Jeffersonian Geography, 1783–1803 |
title_full_unstemmed |
Acquiring “Knowledge of Our Own Continent”: Geopolitics, Science, and Jeffersonian Geography, 1783–1803 |
title_sort |
acquiring “knowledge of our own continent”: geopolitics, science, and jeffersonian geography, 1783–1803 |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2006 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0021875806001356 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0021875806001356 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(130.167,130.167,-66.250,-66.250) ENVELOPE(-57.467,-57.467,-63.267,-63.267) |
geographic |
Pacific Morse Thornton |
geographic_facet |
Pacific Morse Thornton |
genre |
Alaska morse |
genre_facet |
Alaska morse |
op_source |
Journal of American Studies volume 40, issue 2, page 205-232 ISSN 0021-8758 1469-5154 |
op_rights |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0021875806001356 |
container_title |
Journal of American Studies |
container_volume |
40 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
205 |
op_container_end_page |
232 |
_version_ |
1792506643301269504 |